Quote Originally Posted by Calemyr View Post
As for actual usefulness, I assumed he was really bad, but that was because I'd misinterpreted the Maximum Dexterity Bonus rule. I thought that was a general rule not a specific one. As in, if you had 20 Dex and put on full plate, you only get one point of AC from your Dex. Which is true. Then equip a bow, and you only get 1 point of Dex bonus to your attack with that bow. This is false. I don't know if this means I've always been wrong or they just didn't implement their rules like that for a video game, but this means you can still have a Dex fighter in adamantine full-plate. Kinda MAD and feat heavy, but it is still perfectly viable. He's a very dangerous combatant as well an intriguing take on an evil companion.
Yeah, that's how that works in the paper books too - max dex bonus from armor only affects AC bonus. There's a separate trait 'armor check penalty' that modifies Dex-based skills, but nothing that penalizes/limits attack bonuses.